Nightmare
by Li the Twilight Knight
Summary: A one-shot that grew into a short-story on request. Sebastian decides that despite the completion of the contract, Ciel's soul needs a little more... seasoning. Ciel had no idea of the horrors waiting for him after the end... Now edited and complete.
1. Incipere

A/N: This is a short-story, and when it was written it was written to vent a lot of hate and anger and frustration. I feel bad, in hindsight, picking my darling Ciel as the target of all this, but it is what it is. There is no happy ending waiting, and this is rated M for a reason. I picture it as manga-canon Sebastian and anime-canon Ciel, but interpret it how you like.

As it stands, this is the edited version. I went back and fixed some things that I wasn't quite happy with, especially in the last chapter. And, if you'll notice, it's a chapter longer now. I realized that there wasn't much of an explanation for Sebastian's actions, and I hope that the Entr'acte will clear that up a bit.

I would say "enjoy", but, well…

* * *

**Prologue**

Ciel woke to fire.

Tongues of flame licked at his bare feet and hands, and his immediate reaction was to draw his limbs in close to himself, curling into a shaking ball as memories of the inferno that burned his home and killed his parents surfaced in his mind. What was going on? Where was he? The last thing he remembered…

"_Are you ready?"_

**Sebastian**_**. **_It was Sebastian, leaning over him, and excruciating pain ripping through him, like white-hot knives piercing his flesh. Ciel looked around himself at the ring of fire, shifting to be closer to the center of the only open area, still holding his knees. The memories continued to come; that normally-gentle voice chuckling wickedly was the last thing he remembered hearing. Wide blue eyes scanned the flames one last time, and the child flinched as he realized they were closing in. "Sebastian!" The name escaped his lips without him even thinking about it. But the guardian he had come to rely on so determinedly did not come, and the fire continued to advance.

Ciel scrambled to his feet, trying to see over the deadly walls of inferno. He finally spotted a dark figure standing just beyond the fire, familiar features half-visible in the flickering light. "Sebastian!" he cried. "Sebastian…!" But the figure didn't move, and Ciel was forced to step back as the fire inched closer. It was too close, on every side; he couldn't move anymore.

He felt his feet begin to burn, the heat unbearable. A shriek escaped him, and he stumbled in a blind attempt to avoid the pain, falling back and immediately feeling what remained of his clothing catch fire as he landed in the flames. He screamed, tears coming to his eyes and evaporating in the heat nearly before they could fall. It hurt worse than anything he had ever experienced.

He was snatched from the fire to dangle over the greedy tongues of flame by one slender wrist, caught in the grip of the demon who only now had responded to his pleas for help. But as sapphire eyes met crimson, Ciel knew that something was wrong. Sebastian had never looked at him the way he was now, as if he were merely a morsel waiting to be devoured. The last time he had seen the demon look like that had been the moment they'd met.

His wrist ached with the strain of supporting his whole body, and Ciel squirmed weakly. "Sebastian, what's going on? What have you done?"

"What have _I_ done, my little lord?" Sebastian questioned, the familiar title sounding only mocking in this moment. "What makes you think that I've _done_ something?" His lips curled into a wicked smirk. "I am claiming what is mine; that is all."

Ciel's eyes widened. "You were supposed to devour my soul!" he shouted harshly. "_What_ _is this?!_" He would not admit to being afraid, not of this creature, but he couldn't do anything about the fact that he was shaking from both pain and frustration.

Sebastian chuckled lightly. "I have claimed your soul, little master," he said softly. "How do you think you exist now? A human body certainly would not withstand Hell." He watched Ciel turn pale, amused, and continued, "And while I have every intention to eat you, I do not feel that your soul is ready yet. Perhaps undergoing some of what we have to offer here in Hell will season you to perfection."

In a moment of blind panic, Ciel used his free hand to reach for his eyepatch, and stiffened as he realized that he wasn't wearing it. The freeze only lasted a moment, before he recovered and began, "This is an order! Release me, or-" But his words choked off as pain flared in his right eye, like red-hot needles prickling the sensitive orb.

"The contract mark has reversed," Sebastian said, smirking. "It shall be _me_ giving _you_ orders now, little master." Sweeping the child up to the familiar bridal-style cradle, he crooned in the delicate ear, "You should have known the price of evil, for evil you were, my little lord. Had I not taken possession of your soul, you would have ended up here regardless."

Ciel simply stared up at him, and Sebastian laughed at the horror that was slowly overtaking and drowning his features. "It hurts to know that you belong here, doesn't it? There's no one for you to call, and everyone for you to fear, in this world." His smile widened, baring sharp, deadly fangs. "Your tragic fate is looking _oh so clear_, little master."

The last thing that the former earl remembered hearing as his awareness faded to black was the demon's voice, a final whisper graced upon him: "_Welcome to your Nightmare, my little, little lord…_"

_**Sleep not, trapped in tormented dreams,**_

_**In worlds where things aren't as they seem.**_

_**The demon's shadow lurks within;**_

_**No mercy from a cruel raven.**_

_**To learn from him of every vice,**_

_**Your body, then, must pay the price.**_

'_**Til torture stops and feast begins,**_

_**And you, at last, will meet your end.**_


	2. Non Dormiunt

"**Sleep not, trapped in tormented dreams…" **

When Ciel woke, he was alone in the darkness, unable to see anything in a vast field of black. He shivered, and realized with a start that he was naked. His burned clothes had vanished, and his burned feet had been healed. Had it been Sebastian who had healed him? And why? If his former butler's words had been anything to go by, worse torment awaited him than burned feet. This couldn't be…

"Is anyone there?" he called into the dark, uncertain if he wanted something to answer back when he couldn't see it. The horror of the unknown forced him to ask, though, as he would rather know it was there then have it lurking behind his back. But he received no answer, and instead returned to his pose from before, all of his limbs pulled in close, arms around his knees. Sebastian would come for him; there were worse torments for the demon to inflict than sitting alone in the dark.

He was alone for a long time, left to himself to think and fear and worry. Though he would never admit to being afraid, his nerves wound steadily tighter as time went on, as he imagined the possible things that waited for him. It got to the point that when movement finally made itself known, he nearly jumped a mile.

"Well, well. Does the dark frighten you, my little Lord?" Sebastian's velvet voice was mocking as it washed over Ciel. The boy tried to calm his frantically beating heart. The demon's sudden appearance had startled him, but he couldn't let himself seem weak in front of Sebastian. Not now, in this place. His strength would be his only salvation.

It bothered him that he was only _aware_ of Sebastian. When the demon wasn't moving, it was nearly impossible to make out his silhouette in the darkness. But even as he thought this, it brightened enough for him to see, and he bit back a gasp of surprise at what stood before his eyes.

Sebastian had _never_ looked like this. Even at his most battle-worn, it was nothing compared to how startlingly _wild_ he looked now. The former butler still looked mostly human, but Ciel could only assume that that was for his benefit. Black leather pants hugged his form, disappearing into half-familiar black leather, stiletto boots. Ciel swore he'd seen them before, probably in the haze of pain and fear and hate in the aftermath of the demon's summoning. The demon's shirt could barely be considered a shirt, just a mess of leather straps wound around his lithe frame. Hair still black as ink was slightly longer and messier, and his eyes gleamed somewhere between a bright claret and the glowing, demonic pink.

Lips curled up in a smirk that bared fangs, and Sebastian said calmly, "Do I frighten you, little master?"

Ciel shook his head. "No," he managed defiantly. "You're really not all that scary. You're still Sebastian, even here."

The demon's grin increased. "Oh, little one… You've seen nothing yet." He walked over, kneeling next to Ciel and reaching up to tap just below his marked eye with a long, black, claw-like fingernail. "You must obey my orders now. And my first order is that you are not to sleep. At all."

"That's stupid," Ciel countered. "I'm dead, aren't I? I shouldn't need to sleep."

"You no longer have a _body_ that requires sleep," Sebastian corrected blithely. "But you are still a human soul, and your mind will require rest. But you are not to sleep. Sloth is such an unbecoming thing for a noble such as yourself…" The taunt stung, reminding Ciel of the life that no longer belonged to him.

The young earl scowled. "But Sloth is a deadly sin, isn't it? Wouldn't that be to your taste, another sin for my soul?" He didn't like this game that Sebastian was playing. It contradicted with what he thought was supposed to happen. The very fact that he was in Hell contradicted his original idea, which was that he would die and Sebastian would just eat him.

"Sloth is… unappetizing, my Lord," Sebastian purred. "It's taste is thick and unpleasant, at least in my opinion. No, there are other sins far more delicious." His eyes, for a moment, traced up and down the boy's bare body, and Ciel shivered under the gaze. There was something there, a vague feeling of terror that he couldn't place, from being looked at that way.

"Pervert," he declared, and Sebastian laughed.

"I prefer to think of myself as a connoisseur, my Lord." He got to his feet, letting his stare linger on the appetizing boy on the ground. "There are things I must tend to, but I shall return for you later." And with that, the demon was gone, leaving Ciel alone once again in black nothingness.

xXx

For a while, it was easy.

Ciel amused himself thinking of all the ways he could have punished Sebastian, were the demon still bound to him. He came up with any number of creative things, such as forcing him to clean the entire mansion without his demonic abilities, or taking away his cats. As it stood, being denied sleep didn't sound like too horrible a punishment. After all, if his child's body was no longer limited by sleep, he believed his mind could hold on for much longer.

He lost track of time, sitting there alone in that empty space, and finally his eyes began to droop, lids getting heavy and refusing to stay open. He'd been given an order, but what harm would it really cause to sleep just a little bit? Sebastian would never know unless he came back, and it had been hours, if not days, already.

Ciel curled up, shivering slightly, and let his eyes fall closed. A little nap wouldn't… wouldn't hurt…

But the instant his mind started to drift off into sleep, pain flared in his eye, jerking him awake. He shrieked with the pain, hands flying up to clap over the pentacle as tears welled in his unmarked eye. It was worse than when he'd tried to use the pentacle on Sebastian, it felt like hot pokers being driven into his eye. Did contracted demons feel this; was that why Sebastian had obeyed his orders so faithfully? He shuddered harshly, curling up even tighter, staring into the blackness, his eyes wide and unseeing. He finally understood Sebastian's order. His soul was only human, after all. If he could still get sleepy, there would be nothing to stop him from eventually drifting off, and each time there would be more of this blinding pain.

He forced himself to stop crying; if Sebastian did come back, he refused to be so weak in front of him. All he had to do was stay awake.

That was all.

xXx

When Sebastian returned after two days, he found Ciel lying still and unmoving in his empty prison, his mismatched eyes closed. Walking over to check on the boy, he found that Ciel wasn't asleep. Somewhere along the way, the pain had become too much, and the boy had simply passed out. Unconsciousness wasn't the same thing as sleep, so his eye was giving him a respite. However, this would rejuvenate him a little.

Sebastian smirked, scooping the thin body into his arms and turning to leave. It was going so well, this plan of his. He already couldn't wait to see how the child reacted to the next part. The aim was to incite Wrath, to compliment the hate he was already saturated with. But his young Lord had managed to surprise him in the past.

This was looking to be… such fun.


	3. Somniorum Malorum

"**In worlds where things aren't as they seem…"**

When Ciel woke, he shifted a bit, stretching lazily, his eyes still shut. He felt his nightshirt bunched awkwardly where it had shifted as he slept and tugged on it to resituate it. But as he released the loose fabric from his hold, he froze. Slowly, cautiously, he opened his eyes and looked around the room. It was his bedroom in Phantomhive Manor. His familiar nightshirt covered his body, and he clutched at the fabric, eyes wide. He… had been alone. Alone and naked, somewhere in the darkness. How had he gotten here?

"…Sebastian?" The name came out weaker than he would have liked: a small question in the vast room. But his butler did not come, and Ciel frowned. He was starting to become confused. Something of what had happened wasn't real. But which parts were the dreams, and which were reality?

The door opened and Ciel jumped, shifting to look. But it was not his demon butler who stepped through the doorway, but Tanaka. The elder servant smiled kindly at him before moving to open the curtains and fill the room with light. "I see that you are already awake, young master Ciel. Your breakfast is prepared and waiting for you downstairs. Let's get you dressed."

Ciel, too shocked to respond, allowed Tanaka to help him change out of his nightclothes and into more suitable attire. It was only once the butler was putting his shoes on that he finally found his voice, and asked warily, "Tanaka, where is Sebastian?"

"Sebastian, Young Master?" Tanaka looked mildly puzzled. "I would assume that he is down in the dining room. One of the servants was going to feed him. Is something the matter?"

"Feed him?" Ciel asked, all sorts of horrible images popping into his head.

Tanaka blinked. "The dog has his breakfast the same as you, Young Master. Perhaps you can play fetch with him later."

The young earl's mind struggled to wrap around what he had been told. His… dog? That wasn't right. "No, Tanaka. Sebastian Michaelis. My butler."

"I'm not sure what you're talking about, Young Master. There is no one by that name here." The steward finished up with Ciel's shoes and stood up, straightening his tailcoat.

Ciel hesitated, then said forcefully, "Sebastian! My butler! He is my servant; we have a contract! He can't just disappear!"

"Young Master…" Tanaka suddenly smiled, patting him on the head lightly. "You have been very ill, Young Master, with a very high fever. And you've had rather vivid dreams during that time. But you have been recovering, and are finally better."

"Sebastian was not a dream!" Ciel insisted frantically. He wasn't! Because that would mean that everything, the fire, the sacrifice, a long two years of learning to interact with each other, Jack the Ripper and foreign princes and angels and cities on fire and _revenge_… All of that wasn't real. And Ciel could not accept that.

Tanaka continued to smile. "Young Master, if I may. Breakfast is waiting, and I'm sure your parents will be pleased to see you up and about again."

Ciel felt his heart stop, felt his blood turn to ice, felt his thoughts screech to a halt. _Your parents… __**Your parents…**_His brain felt stuck on those two words, unable to process what the elderly servant was telling him. "Tanaka… My parents… They're… alive?"

Tanaka raised an eyebrow. "I do wonder what sort of dreams you've been having, Young Master," he said. "Of course they are alive."

He didn't have time to speak further, as Ciel launched himself off of the bed and out of his room entirely, taking off down the hall. He passed a maid he didn't know, and was immediately shocked. _Maylene was the only maid he employed after the fire_. A glance out the window proved that the garden was intact, and the tiny figures of several gardeners watering the plants could be seen. _Finny is the only gardener in the household, and the garden would be dead by now._ As he raced down the main stairs, he saw the portrait of his parents that he had ordered removed hanging in its old place on the wall at the landing.

Skidding a bit on the polished floor, he threw open the doors to the dining room and stopped dead, simply staring, unable to believe what his eyes were showing him.

"Ciel, darling!" Rachel Phantomhive smiled at him from her seat at the table. "We didn't think you'd ever make it down to breakfast! It's so good to see you up and about!"

Vincent Phantomhive also smiled from where he sat at the head of the table. "Good morning, Ciel. How are you?"

"M-mum… Dad…" Ciel whispered. It was a trick; it was like the trick the angel had played on him. It couldn't be real... But something about this rang true. Without meaning to, he was walking forward slowly, one step at a time towards his mother, who merely smiled gently and opened her arms to receive him. He climbed up to sit in her lap, his voice weak as he held on tightly. "Mum… Mum…"

"Sweetheart, what's wrong?" Rachel asked, rocking him slowly back and forth, stroking his hair. "Tanaka said you'd been having nightmares…"

"I had… the best and worst nightmare, Mum…" Ciel whispered. He began to tell a shortened version of the story, his head resting on her shoulder, feeling loved and cared-for. His parents listened dutifully to every word, and when he was done his mother only held him tighter.

"Oh, Ciel… I wonder where your mind comes up with such things. You're safe now, sweetheart. Everything will be okay."

xXx

Breakfast was good. Not the immaculate perfection of Sebastian's breakfasts, of course, but good nonetheless. He ate as if he were starving, feeling like he hadn't eaten in weeks, and only slowed down when his father admonished his table manners. There was a feeling in his chest that he couldn't place. A warm feeling, like love and happiness and everything he thought he had abandoned.

_It wasn't real. None of it._

Breakfast was just ending when the sound of a huge explosion shook the house. Vincent looked around in confusion, while Rachel looked distressed. Ciel himself clutched his glass of juice, staring towards the doors to the dining room. Screams could be heard from beyond the doors, as well as footsteps, getting closer… and closer… and closer…

The doors to the dining room nearly flew off their hinges, revealing the person Ciel least wanted to see in that moment. Sebastian stood there, framed by the doorway, one bloody hand wrapped around Tanaka's throat. A bleeding hole was through the butler's chest, and his eyes were glassy and dead. Behind the demon, the hallway was littered with the bodies of the other servants, all bloody and lifeless.

Rachel screamed, and Vincent got up as if he was going to try to protect his family. But it was Ciel who leaped to his feet, screaming at the demon, "Why are you doing this?! Leave me alone!"

"Did you honestly think this was _real_?" Sebastian bit out mockingly, tossing the butler's body aside. He walked into the room, boots clicking on the tile. "You wanted to believe that everything was just a dream; you could go back to your former life so easily and pretend I really was just a nightmare?"

Vincent started forward, as if to shield his son from the demon, but Sebastian was on him in a moment. Ciel could only stare, choking back the urge to throw up as his father's head was torn roughly from his body. Blood splattered the tile, and Rachel screamed, drawing Sebastian's ruby eyes to focus on her.

"No!" Ciel shrieked, trying to get in the way, but Sebastian merely tossed him aside like a rag doll. He crumpled to the tile, unable to look away as Sebastian literally reached into his mother's chest and ripped out her heart, crimson blood trailing over his hands and all over the floor.

The child didn't think. He simply acted, getting up and running to the demon. "I HATE YOU!" he screamed. "Why show me this?! Why didn't you just EAT ME?!" He beat at the stronger man with small fists, fury blinding him to the fact that he was doing absolutely nothing.

Sebastian simply raised an eyebrow, scooping up the flailing child with one arm and snapping his fingers. The room dissolved, leaving them back in the empty black space, where Sebastian dropped him to the ground once more. "You will stay here for the time being. You are still not to sleep."

Ciel unleashed a slew of curse words inappropriate for a thirteen-year-old, but the demon merely chuckled before disappearing. The boy continued to rage at the empty space for a long moment, before falling silent. He shuddered, drawing his knees up and wrapping his arms around them in a protective pose.

There, alone in the darkness, he began to cry.


	4. Gula

A/N: …don't read this while eating. Just don't.

* * *

"**The demon's shadow lurks within…"**

Sebastian didn't return for days, and when he finally did he found Ciel huddled in a tiny ball, quivering with pain and hunger and exhaustion. The boy's eyes were wide and haunted, and Sebastian immediately understood. It was reminding him of the month he'd spent in those cages, always hungry, always abused. But then he had at least been granted the brief reprieve that sleep offered. Here, there was no such thing.

"Ciel," he called, offering the child a hand. Ciel looked up at him, suspicion fighting to make its way into his expression before exhaustion won over again. He looked away, back at his knees, and Sebastian smirked. "Ciel, get up. I will not ask again."

Still he didn't move despite the sudden pain in his eye, and Sebastian reached down and jerked him to his feet by one wrist. He stumbled, barely staying on his feet, and Sebastian asked, "You're starving, aren't you?"

Haunted eyes flashed briefly with hate, and Sebastian chuckled. "Oh, are you not talking to me? That's fine. Come this way." He led the boy by the wrist through the blackness, until they seemed to pass through the dark itself and into a room beyond. Despite his insistence on remaining silent, even Ciel couldn't hold back a small cry of surprise when he saw what waited.

It was a dining room, with a table containing the most spectacular feast he'd ever seen. Every type of dish or sweet he could ever ask for seemed to be there, just waiting for someone to come along and indulge. His stomach growled audibly, but after a swift glance at Sebastian he turned away from the food. It was another trick.

Sebastian, of course, had anticipated this. He leaned down, lips barely brushing Ciel's ear as he whispered, "Eat, Ciel. The food is delicious."

Ciel's eye prickled in warning, and he walked stiffly to the table, sitting down and reaching for the glass of wine sitting by his plate. He took a small sip, then began picking out things to eat. Sebastian was right, of course. The food was perfect, exquisite, like tasting Heaven within this Hell. Roast chicken and creamy mashed potatoes, fish cooked with lemon, savory soups, buttery bread and an astonishing array of desserts… He ate until his stomach no longer complained, and then sat back in the chair, sighing in something like relief. Now if Sebastian would only let him sleep…

His eye began to prickle again, and Ciel blinked in confusion, reaching up to cover it with one hand. He didn't understand. He'd eaten, as ordered. Why…? But a glance at the demon sitting a little farther down the table showed him a smirk curling on the man's features, a wicked look that promised nothing but more pain. He hesitated, hoping that the demon would rescind his order, but Sebastian's smirk only widened.

Ciel reached out for a roll, taking a small bite and feeling the pain in his eye ebb. This was horrible. Almost worse than starvation, the sick feeling he got from his stomach as it slowly became too full. It was no longer content, but causing him twice as much discomfort as before. He continued to eat, taking as small bites as he possibly could, just enough to keep the pain at bay. He could endure this. He just had to last until Sebastian had gotten his amusement.

But eventually it began to catch up with him. It became a struggle to chew, and a worse torture to swallow each bite. His stomach began to feel nauseous, and the pain still lurking in his eye didn't help any. He took another bite of a lemon tart and nearly gagged, barely aware of Sebastian coming around to stand behind his chair.

"Gluttony is a delicious sin, my little Lord," he purred, watching Ciel choke down the bite of tart. "A buttery, oily taste. The perfect seasoning."

Ciel looked up at him, tart crumbs clinging around his mouth, his eyes wide with pain and fear. Sebastian raised an eyebrow and seemed to take pity on him, finally saying in an almost condescending voice, "You may stop eating, Ciel."

The child hurled the tart down onto his plate, leaning over the chair and retching violently. He coughed and spluttered, all of the meal he'd eaten coming back up as his stomach rebelled. Sebastian merely watched, and when Ciel sat up, grasping weakly for a napkin to wipe the vomit from his mouth, the demon said, "How rude of you."

An icy glare was directed at him, as Ciel grabbed pathetically for his wineglass, trying to wash the taste of sickness from his mouth. Sebastian took the glass from him, slamming it back to the table hard enough to break the stem. "I go through the trouble to make you a divine meal, and you get sick? And after I am putting off my own feast as well."

"For no reason!" Ciel cried weakly. "Why won't you answer me? Why this torture?!"

Sebastian lifted him from the chair, sweeping the dishes aside in a clatter of shattering china, and pinned Ciel to the tabletop by holding his wrists with one hand. He regarded the little earl spread out before him, savory and tender and delicious-looking, like one of the dishes of wonderful food still on the other end of the table. He could eat him right now, if he wished.

But he had more self-control than that. "Perhaps you need to be punished for putting this good food to waste." He dragged Ciel from the table, squirming and protesting, and hauled him to a different room. Within moments, he was naked again, chained by his ankles in the center of the floor. Sebastian had walked around behind him, and Ciel could hear him chuckling.

"Now…" he murmured. "Let's see if you will sing for me."


	5. Tormenta

"**No mercy from a cruel raven…"**

For a while, it was quiet. Ciel couldn't turn to look, chained as he was, and only Sebastian's occasional footsteps let him know that the demon was still in the room. He could only imagine what Sebastian had planned for him. If it was as horrible as the other tortures he had inflicted, the child was seriously questioning his ability to stand it. He didn't want to show weakness to the demon, but he might not be given the choice.

When Sebastian finally did come into view, Ciel's eyes widened in fright at the long whip coiled in his hands. The demon chuckled, noting his reaction with amusement. "Oh? Now you are frightened?" He let the whip unroll to lie around his feet, before snapping it once in the empty air. "So the threat of pain is enough to make you fear me…"

"Sebastian, don't!" But apparently the plea sounded too much like an order, and he was forced to flinch and whimper as his eye burned painfully.

"I shall do as I wish, my Lord," the demon said, and the whip whistled through the air to bite into Ciel's right shoulder, leaving a gash behind. There was something on the end of the whip, something metal that cut deep into the flesh. Ciel bit back a cry of pain, glancing at his shoulder to see how bad it was. It wasn't bleeding…

Again and again the whip fell on his unprotected skin, leaving mars and cuts all over his chest, arms, and legs. Ciel was practically delirious from the pain, but choked down another whimper and asked roughly, "Why aren't I bleeding?" Many of the cuts were deep and painful, but other than red, irritated-looking skin along the gashes, there was nothing to show he was hurt. No blood poured onto the cold floor.

Sebastian laughed again, tossing the whip aside. "Have you forgotten? You are dead, my little Lord. You no longer have an earthly body to bleed, as you are merely soul. No matter what I do to you, it won't shed a drop of blood." He smiled cruelly then, a sudden light in his eyes, as if he were contemplating something wickedly amusing. "Your blood was exquisite, my Lord, I must say."

"You drank my blood?" Ciel whispered, horrified. His stomach roiled briefly at the thought, but there was nothing more in it to be expulsed, and the nausea faded after a moment.

"Certainly. How do you think you died?" Sebastian asked, walking over to tip his chin up and look him in his mismatched eyes. "Blood and other… bodily fluids," and again his eyes trailed shamelessly over Ciel's body, "contain traces of your soul. While it was not as sumptuous as my eventual meal will be, it was delicious all the same."

Ciel shuddered harshly, a sudden chill arcing down his spine like lightning, a premonition of things to come. Sebastian blinked, before smiling wickedly at the terror Ciel was trying to hide. "But we are not done here, yet, Bocchan."

Ciel curled in on himself, shaking, not wanting to know what was coming next. The demon's presence vanished from his side for a moment, before returning. There was a quiet sound, like fingers running along metal, and then the former butler had sunk the tip of a knife into his back and dragged it downwards, creating a gaping line of raw flesh. Ciel bit his lip hard enough to almost have bit through it, knowing that it wouldn't bleed, trying to muffle cries of pain as the demon continued to trace lines all over his back.

"This won't do at all…" Sebastian murmured, and Ciel felt the knife's tip play along the edge of the burn scar, the horrible brand that the cultists had left on him. "This mark upon you… The only mark I would have upon you is my own." He felt the knife dig into the skin, cutting, tracing, and realized with a start that Sebastian was cutting the mark off, literally carving away the chunk of scarred skin. Pain blossomed through the spot, and Ciel couldn't stop the howl of pain that ripped from his throat.

When it was done, leaving a raw and stinging circle of clear skin, Sebastian smiled to himself. He began to trace letters down the boy's spine, carving them deep. His true name, which the child would never know. Ciel was _his_. Which reminded him that there was one last torture yet to inflict.

Ciel flinched when the demon stood, pulling his arms back behind him and chaining them as well, leaving his body open and undefended before his tormentor. Sebastian walked out of the boy's sight, but he could still hear. The clicking footsteps of stiletto boots, the scrape of metal against metal, and a faint hissing, sizzling sound that seemed all too familiar… He closed his eyes for a moment, trying to remember where he had heard such a noise before, and when he opened them again he felt his mind lock up in sudden, complete terror.

Sebastian stood before him, a long metal rod with an intricate design on one end held before him. The end glowed red-hot, and Ciel cried out.

It was a branding iron.

Sebastian waved the glowing end back and forth, watching in amusement as Ciel's gaze followed it, entranced and terrified. He took a step forward, and then another, and Ciel realized with a start that there was a spot on his chest, just above the base of his ribcage, where there were no cuts. A round spot, untouched by the whip, and just large enough for…

He began to scream, not caring who heard or what he sounded like. He begged and pleaded for Sebastian to stop, to continue whipping him, to do anything other than this… But his pleas fell on deaf ears, as the demon only laughed cruelly before pressing the brand onto the unmarred skin.

He shrieked in pure pain and terror, thrashing against the chains, feeling his skin searing beneath the touch of the iron. But Sebastian held it there, and the pain was so unbearable that Ciel felt his vision darkening.

The instant the iron left his skin, his eyes rolled back in his head, and everything went black.


	6. Entr'acte

**Entr'acte**

My little master… I must admit, he is far stronger than what I have given him credit for. Lesser souls would have broken long before now. But he's a determined child, if nothing else, and that is why I have had to torment him so.

Even with all of the torture and pain my little one has suffered, abused and starved and raped during his captivity, forced to summon a demon just to feel safe, he was not badly off. After I pulled him from his personal hell, his life was quite easy. His company was run with help from myself, I handled most of the duties around the manor, I took the brunt of the difficult tasks in his underworld work, and I served his every whim. He had sweets and servants and luxury, everything to be a pampered princeling. He suffered, yes, but a month's time out of thirteen years is not much time at all. He needed to learn what true Hell was like. And what better torment than to be abused and betrayed by myself, the one that he had finally come to trust?

I'm certain he no longer trusts me now, though. The branding iron will have seen to that. But I'm not finished. There is one remaining 'torture', though it's not always interpreted as that. For my traumatized little one, however, it will be the worst thing that could be done to him. And it may be the thing that shatters him, because I will have to be kind, and such kindness will only remind him of the life he no longer has. He will wake in bed, I will soothe his wounds, and then we may continue to play.

I do so look forward to his reaction to the rest of our game.


	7. Curare

"**To learn from him of every vice…"**

Again, Ciel woke in bed.

The sheets were cool, soothing against his bare skin where they lay across his hips, leaving his upper half exposed to the empty room. Ciel shut his eyes again, not wanting to face the room, and buried his face in the pillow. But his eye began again with the now-familiar burn, and he forced himself to open his eyes and lie still. He still ached all over, but not as much as before.

There was a bowl on the table by the bed, with some sort of dark liquid in it, and a rag hanging over the side. For a moment he wondered what it was for, but quickly gave up thinking about it. Some new form of torture, he was sure. He shifted idly, wincing as the pain streaked across his back where the brand once had been. While he was glad that the mark was gone, this was not how he would have chosen to go about it.

Suddenly remembering the last thing that had happened before he blacked out, Ciel tensed, apprehension coursing through him. He hadn't really _looked_ at the branding iron; he had been too terrified of the glowing metal and the pain it would cause to actually see what the design was. He slowly sat up, the sheets pooling around his lower body, and glanced down at his chest.

He almost wanted to laugh. He should have known, of course, that the mark Sebastian would brand him with was his own: the pentacle, the same as the one that marred his violet eye. An inverted star covered in arcane writing, surrounded by a ring of thorns. The flesh was still raw, and stung as Ciel traced his fingers over it lightly. He hissed softly, and distracted by the burn, he missed as the demon appeared in the room with him.

"You're awake." Sebastian observed, walking over and sitting down on the side of the bed. Ciel drew back away from him, frowning uncertainly. He watched as his former butler took the rag and dipped it into the bowl, turning to Ciel with an unreadable expression.

"Don't touch me!" Ciel cried, but his attempts at escape were thwarted by the distraction his stinging eye caused. Sebastian merely grabbed him by his upper arm, holding him still as he ran the cloth over the branded mark. Ciel gasped; it didn't hurt, but it felt strange and unnatural. When Sebastian drew back again, he looked down at his chest, and was astonished to see the mark healed over, scarred but no longer raw and aching. It looked like it had been there for years. "You're… healing me?"

"Yes." The reply was curt, and Sebastian pulled him around to run the cloth over the gaping wound left by the removal of the other mark.

"Why…?" Ciel tried to ask, but his initial question was almost lost beneath the well of hate that bubbled up in him. "Why would you bother? I thought I was here for you to torture! To amuse yourself with until I taste good enough for your picky pallet!"

The demon, finished with the child's wounds, sat up to look him in the eyes. Ciel recoiled back from the look, from the hellfire burning there. All of the intensity of those flames was trained upon him, to the point that he could almost physically feel Sebastian's gaze.

"Pain, my little Lord, can be drowned out by other pain, yes?" Sebastian asked, though it was obvious he was not expecting an answer. "A cut on your finger and a broken arm; you wouldn't even be able to feel the pain in your finger any more. Even something with less of a difference, they would still affect each other somewhat." He leaned close, lips parted in a wide smile that showed fangs. "I want you to be able to fully experience what comes next. No distractions. No other pain to counter this."

Ciel bit his lip, wondering what the next torture would be but afraid to ask, and Sebastian chuckled. "No need to fear, my Lord. What comes next is only as painful as you make it. There is a sin more delicious than Gluttony, my Lord, or Pride or Wrath or any of the others. Rich and smooth, like the darkest chocolate or the creamiest cheesecake. Unfortunately, it is a sin that you have never been exposed to. At least, not where you could feel it for yourself."

"…what?" But the boy regretted asking. Within the next moment, he had been caged within strong arms, black-tipped fingers reaching to cup his cheek and hold him in place. "Let m-!" He managed to bite off the order before it completed, sparing him more pain from his eye. "What are you doing?!"

But he soon had his answer, as hot lips swooped to capture his own, prying his mouth open for the demon's tongue to force its way in. Ciel squirmed, suddenly terrified, fighting to get away with everything he had. This was… No… Not again… _Not again_…

His mouth was released, but hands were running over his body, touching him despite his every attempt to jerk away. And the demon leaned down and breathed sweetly in his ear,

"_That sin… is Lust, my delicious little Lord…"_


	8. Libido Impiorum

A/N: …You are _not_ supposed to fall out of your chair and squee. You are not. _Stop it._

* * *

"**Your body, then, must pay the price…"**

Ciel was shaking, and could not stop.

Hands, familiar hands and yet strange, ran over his body possessively, leaving him gasping for air and drowning in a monsoon of horrible memories. They had done this to him; They had touched him and violated him and once They were satisfied They had tried to murder him, as a sacrifice to some deity. Maybe even the demon whose touches were leaving trails of hellfire over his skin even now.

But Sebastian had killed them in return. He'd killed them all; he'd kept Ciel safe for three years, and in those three years the demon had been the only person Ciel allowed to touch him. He tolerated Madam Red and Lizzy's gestures of affection, but it was Sebastian he relied on. He didn't even like doctors; his butler had cared for him if he had been hurt or sick. Physical contact with others was kept to a minimum for everyone except Sebastian.

But now even that touch was betraying him. He squirmed against the arms wrapped around him as Sebastian's lips ran hotly over his neck, a tongue occasionally slipping out to lap at a sensitive spot.

"If you would, my Lord…" Sebastian purred, two fingers sliding up his chest to rub at a rosy nipple, "_Surrender_."

"No…!" Ciel bit out, still struggling. "Stop this! What does this accomplish?! I feel nothing for you!" Nothing but betrayal and hurt and _hate…_ Certainly nothing that would lead him to enjoy such attention.

Sebastian smiled, his lips pressed to the soft skin just behind Ciel's ear. "You do not need to feel anything for _me_. You merely need to feel. And _want_." He suckled on the tender spot, causing Ciel to whimper and redouble his efforts to squirm away. But he froze, a high, keening whine escaping his mouth as Sebastian's fingers brushed over his most sensitive place.

"Shh…" Sebastian nipped his ear, rubbing gently, stroking the taut skin and feeling triumphant. The most delicious sin of all, slowly corrupting his little master. It was all he could ask for. Ciel was a child, and when he was alive, Lust was a sin that was not on his mind. Not nearly as much as Pride or Wrath. So to watch him slowly giving in was a real pleasure.

Ciel was crying now, actually crying, terrified out of his mind of what was happening to him. He begged and pleaded softly, almost unable to get the words out past his hitching breath and small whimpers and moans. "Sebastian… Please… Stop…" Sebastian was just like Them, just another person who wanted him for filthy reasons… He was supposed to be different, he was supposed to be Ciel's savior, but now…

"No. I won't," the demon replied quietly. He paused in his ministrations to lick his own finger, tracing it down to find the tiny entrance that waited. Ciel cried harder, hiding his face in Sebastian's neck. He didn't want this, didn't want this, _didn't want this…_ "Hush, Ciel," Sebastian said calmly, pressing his finger easily into the boy's body. Ciel shrieked, thrashing against the arm that still held him firmly.

Sebastian simply held him until he stilled in defeat, quaking with fear. He licked up a tear trailing down the boy's face, crooking his finger to search for the sweet spot he knew was there. There were perks to being a centuries-old demon, and one of them was knowing exactly how to manipulate someone's body. He felt the moment that Ciel stiffened, shocked at the amount of pleasure racing through him as Sebastian stroked the small bundle of nerves within him.

"Please…" he whimpered, still fearful, but there was a different tone to his voice. He remembered pain, he remembered the feeling of being violated roughly, but he didn't remember this. Pleasure from such an act was something he had never experienced before, and he clung to the feeling desperately, wanting more of it to assure himself that there was something other than pain.

Sebastian had won.

"Do you like this?" the demon purred, continuing to rub steadily. Ciel flushed, a small sob catching in his throat as he tried to hide his face. Sebastian chuckled, loosening the arm he had around the child, relaxing his vice-grip into something more comforting. Ciel wasn't fighting anymore, succumbing to the pleasure. Unknowingly, his hips had begun to rock in time with the motions of Sebastian's finger, lust taking control of him.

"That's it…" Sebastian coaxed lightly, leaning to kiss Ciel's temple before catching the child's lips with his own. He curled his finger, rubbing harder against Ciel's sweet spot and feeling him begin to tremble. Ciel came with a sharp cry, and promptly dissolved into sobs. It had felt good; it had felt more than good, incredible even, but that didn't change the fact that he hadn't wanted it. Sebastian was no different than Them.

Sebastian let him cry, still holding him, feeling pleased with what he had accomplished. Of all the sins, Lust always had been the one that presented the biggest challenge. It would be difficult to get Ciel to accept, because it couldn't be done with orders. Now, however… that challenge had been overcome.

He left the boy in bed, covers pulled up over his slim form, and for a moment the demon contemplated allowing the boy to sleep. But it would be pointless to be kind now, and instead he left silently, leaving Ciel to curl into a tiny ball and sob quietly, in pain and fear and hate _hate_ _**hate…**_


	9. Finale

A/N: …congrats if you got this far, I suppose.

* * *

"'**Til torture stops and feast begins…"**

When Sebastian returned, he found Ciel sitting upright, his legs pulled in close to his chest, arms wrapped around them and face buried in small bony knees. The sheets had been yanked out of the end of the bed, pulled up to surround the boy in a cocoon of white fabric, shielding his body from the room… and from Sebastian's eyes.

Ciel didn't react to the demon's presence, which was a surprise. He had expected rage and venom from the proud little noble. Instead, Ciel slumped, curled in on himself as if dead. Sebastian wondered for a moment if he was unconscious again, but that thought was proven wrong as the boy shifted absently in his makeshift nest of fabric.

"Ciel." Sebastian called. But he didn't respond. Only curled tighter into himself. And as Sebastian leaned closer, he realized that the boy was murmuring something under his breath, just barely audible through the cage of his arms and legs. He shifted slightly, trying to hear what the boy was saying, and raised an eyebrow as he realized that it was a single word, repeated over and over again.

"Please…" Ciel chanted into his knees. "Please, please, please, please, please…."

"Please what, Ciel?" Sebastian asked, honestly confused. He had thought that using the boy's name would elicit some sort of reaction. But this was twice now, and there had been nothing. "I do hope you are not praying. God cannot hear you down here."

Ciel continued his litany, mindless of Sebastian's words. "Please, please, please please _please please please __**please please please…!**_" His voice grew more and more desperate as time passed, as if begging the demon to understand what he wanted with just the single word.

"I cannot grant you what you are asking unless you tell me specifically. I'm not a mind-reader."

He figured the boy would beg for sleep. After all, it had been several days worth of human time. And sleep would be a reprieve from the horrors around him. It made sense. So Sebastian was utterly surprised when Ciel looked up with desperate, almost crazed eyes, and begged plaintively, "Please, Sebastian, _eat me_…!"

"Ciel?" The demon was honestly taken aback, but Ciel didn't notice.

"I'm perfect now, aren't I?! Don't I taste _perfect_?! Don't you _want_ to eat me?!" The child laughed, near-hysterical, and continued, "I want you to! _Anything_ would be better than this! _**Anything!**_" He reached up to grip weakly at Sebastian's shirt, tipping his head back and exposing his pale throat to the demon. "You said I was just a soul, now, right? So you could just… take a bite. Devour me completely…"

Ciel had broken, Sebastian realized. He was so far gone that not only was he willing to give his soul to a demon, he was begging the demon to end him. Reaching out, he drew Ciel close, feeling the child cling and whimper pitifully. He buried his nose in soft blue-grey hair, breathing the scent of his soul: fragments of wrath, lust, gluttony… hatred and revenge and overwhelming sorrow… and fear, giving him a touch of sweetness different from lust.

He cupped Ciel's cheek, forcing the boy to look up at him. Ciel was trembling, his eyes silently pleading, yet fearful that Sebastian was only going to hurt him more. "You are perfect, Ciel." Sebastian whispered, watching as blue and violet eyes focused on him intently. "The most mouthwatering soul I could ever imagine." He stroked the back of Ciel's neck gently, taking another deep breath of the wonderful scent before whispering, "This is the end, my little lord."

Ciel smiled brokenly. "I'd rather you eat me, than be trapped here for eternity." he breathed, relief coloring his voice. He closed his eyes, relaxing in the demon's arms, just waiting.

Sebastian smiled. The extra work done had been worth it; the child would be the most delicious feast he would ever taste. And given so easily, without the fighting and screaming and struggling that usually accompanied his taking a soul. But then, he supposed, he'd broken his little master's will quite thoroughly. Reclining the boy in his arms and leaning down, he touched his lips lightly to Ciel's neck, smirking at the tiny hitch in his breath.

"Sebastian…" Ciel murmured, reaching to wrap his arms around the demon's neck, as if frightened he would pull away.

Sebastian smiled wickedly. "_Good-night, my Lord…_"

He parted his lips, and bit down.

"**And you, at last, will meet your end…"**


End file.
